


Are We Connected?

by Seer_of_Soul



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dr. Kogami's A+ Parenting, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Found Family, M/M, revolver gets forcibly adopted by the lost kids, season 1 divergence, yusaku has to be the mature one and it's just not fair
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:00:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29955789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seer_of_Soul/pseuds/Seer_of_Soul
Summary: Hello…? Hello? Are we… connected?While visiting Jin at his hospital, Yusaku and Jin both suddenly get a splitting headache. When they open their eyes they see the colored silhouettes of four other people in the room with them. They all seem to share a connection with each other and despite initial tensions, they find it kind of hard to really dislike each other.
Relationships: Ai | Ignis/Fujiki Yuusaku, Ai | Ignis/Fujiki Yuusaku/Revolver | Kougami Ryouken, Fujiki Yuusaku & Kusanagi Jin, Fujiki Yuusaku/Revolver | Kougami Ryouken, The Lost Kids & Revolver | Kougami Ryouken
Comments: 4
Kudos: 25





	Are We Connected?

While the teacher went on and on about complex math problems and solutions, Yusaku dreamed about nothing. The voice droned on in the background of his mind, like white noise. His nightmares always hounded him at night, alone in his own apartment. The sounds that surrounded him then seemed so distant…, they couldn’t reach his sleeping mind, couldn’t convince him that he wasn’t in that white room again. That was when any dream would shift into a nightmare of isolation, monsters, and lightning. 

But the sounds of the classroom, lively even in its silence, gave him an odd, dreamless peace. The day passed by in quiet, dark nothingness. Yusaku was grateful for the sleep, even if he was more or less indifferent to the rest of school as a whole. If Kusanagi hadn’t insisted he go to school, that he at least try to graduate, Yusaku probably would have dropped out. It was probably a misdirected older brother instinct that made Kusanagi so insistent, trying to protect his future from stupid teenage decisions, but Yusaku had folded to him very easily. He just didn’t care enough to fight him on it. And, the naps were good.

Something nudged at his shoulder, earning a slightly bitter grumble. He didn’t want to wake up yet. “Hey-! Hey Fujiki!” Shima swatted at the top of his head that time, messing up his hair. Yusaku raised his head from his arms, blinking at the bright overhead lights as his eyes got used to them. The rest of the classroom was mostly empty, except for the two students lagging behind at one of the frontmost desks. Shima prodded at his shoulder again, nearly toppling him sideways. “Oi-! Come in, Fujiki!”

“I’m awake now. You can stop poking me,” Yusaku muttered, a little drier than he’d meant to. He stretched his shoulders, feeling his back pop in a couple places. One of the students at the front of the classroom glanced very obviously towards him, whispering something quickly to her friend. 

“Ah good. Welcome back to the world of the living.” Shima leaned down, grinning at him. Yusaku side-eyed him, but didn’t see the need to say anything in response to that. He started packing up the small amount of school supplies he’d managed to unpack before he’d fallen asleep, tucking them into place in his bookbag. 

Shima, more than used to having largely one-sided conversations by now, continued on seamlessly. “Hey, so Duel Club isn’t meeting today. The president got a cold and had to call off. So, you get to hang out with me today!” He pumped his fist, striking a pose. “We can finally get you a Link Vrains account and you can learn from this master duelist how it’s done!”

Yusaku looked over at him. “I’m busy.”

“Come on, you can’t fool me with that! I know you don’t have any other friends that you hang out with.” Shima smacked his shoulder, probably harder than he thought he had. “There’s this sweet hot dog stand in Vrains Plaza. They have the best hot dogs ever! You just have to try one.” Shima wrapped an arm around Yusaku’s shoulders, like he was going to drag him there if he had to.

“I’m busy,” Yusaku said again, shaking Shima off his shoulders.

“Busy?” Shima asked skeptically, “With what?” Yusaku silently slung his bookbag over his shoulder and slipped around Shima, heading for the door. “Hey!” Shima called after him. “You’re not just saying that to get out of hanging out, are you?! Oi-! Where are you going?!”

Yusaku looked back at him, feeling a little exasperated. It was really none of his buisness, and Yusaku didn’t actually have to tell him. But, if he didn’t, Shima would hound him for it, maybe follow him to where Kusanagi was waiting for him with the hot dog van. He’d definitely hound him after class tomorrow too, if he didn’t answer. “The hospital,” he said simply, “I’m going to visit a friend.” 

‘Friend’ worked for Jin. There wasn’t any easy way to describe their relationship. So, ‘friend’ worked.

Shima’s eyes went wide, but he immediately shut up, like he’d swallowed his own tongue. “Oh- uh…. Yeah.” He looked down at the ground, nodding slightly. Yusaku wondered what that look meant, but saw his opportunity to leave and took it, slipping out of the classroom. The hallways were mostly clear, everyone filing into club rooms, or heading home. Yusaku had a clear shot to the stairs, located about half way down the hallway. 

Shima’s garbled, half-yelped complaint came a moment later. He shouted down the hallway after him, “Hey! Fujiki! We’ll hang out some other time then.” 

The only recognition Yusaku gave him was glancing at him as he turned the corner to descend the stairs. That seemed to be enough for Shima, since he grinned brightly at him. Yusaku figured that he would never understand Shima, or why he had latched on to him. Then again, he didn’t understand most people. 

~

“Do you want to meet him?” Kusanagi asked suddenly, his voice soft and a little breathier than usual. “Jin, I mean. He’s… not in great shape... and it might just upset you both, but- it might not….” Kusanagi didn’t look at him, just stared distantly at the code-filled screen directly in front of him. “I just… can’t help but think it might help the both of you to- have someone who understands. I know I can’t be that person for either of you, but for each other….” He trailed off, glancing apprehensively at Yusaku out of the corner of his eye.

Yusaku had agreed. And then he’d met Jin. 

Jin’s hospital was nice, almost homey. It was exclusively for long term patients, so there was a little effort put into it to make it a little more comfortable. The hallways were carpeted and lit with soft yellow lights. The walls were painted a soft beige color, instead of white. 

The carpet was worn down, especially in the middle, and the lights flickered at one end of the hallway. The scent of antiseptic and other hospital chemicals still hung in the air. It always made his head ache.

Yusaku walked at Kusanagi’s side, half a step behind him. Jin was at the end of one quiet hallway. There weren’t many patients in that hallway, despite the several open rooms. Yusaku always felt off when he had to walk through the hallways, like he’d gotten stuck half way through loading into Link Vrains. He rubbed absentmindedly at the empty spot on his wrist. It felt too light, empty, lacking somehow.

He’d left his duel disk in the hot dog van, tucked away in a hidden drawer, safe. Ai had complained with some very vocal protests, at least until Yusaku had muted him. It was strangely satisfying to do that, though he wasn’t sure why. In all honesty, he didn’t mind Ai’s jabbering most of the time. It was largely white noise, easily tuned out most of the time. 

Kusanagi stopped in front of Jin’s door, which had come up so suddenly Yusaku almost walked into him. He took a couple steps backwards, shaking the feeling off. Kusanagi smiled back at him. “Just a sec, I’ll see if he’s awake.” 

Yusaku nodded silently in affirmation. Kusanagi eased the door open and slipped into the semi-dark room. Jin felt better when he was alone if he was in the dark. Maybe it comforted him somehow, maybe just because the lights made it feel too much like the white room from the Lost Incident. 

Yusaku shifted his weight slightly as he waited, the quiet of the hallway feeling like static. He felt off…. More so than the hospital usually left him, actually. He felt like he was edging towards something, a cliff, an edge. Something was pulling at him, somewhere rooted deep inside him. Which was a very uncomfortable feeling compared to his usual attitude. 

He’d felt something a lot like this before, many times. But it’d been strongest the first day he met Ai, enough to make him wince. He’d felt like something was attacking him. It’d felt like he could feel the Cracking Dragon attacking Link Vrains and Ai. He hadn’t asked Ai about it. It didn’t matter. 

Then later that night, overlooking the city, he’d felt something similar and seen a phantom image of Link Vrains, of Revolver riding a massive dragon, flying overhead. He’d felt a pulling, something that kept his eyes locked on the dragon and its rider. He had felt the wind from the dragon’s flight ruffle his hair. He could have sworn it. He’d felt- something in the network, somehow… he’d felt something….

Kusanagi’s face appeared in the doorway, snapping him out of his thoughts. “Come on in, Yusaku,” he smiled gently, a little brighter than usual. Kusanagi stepped back to let Yusaku walk into the room. 

Jin was sitting up in his bed, leaning against the headboard, a loose robe wrapped around his shoulders and a blanket thrown over his legs. His eyes watched Yusaku as he moved closer. Kusanagi gave a short warning as he turned the lights on and closed the door. Yusaku walked to the edge of the bed, tilting his head a little as Jin stared up at him, blinking owlishly. 

“Hey Jin,” he said softly, offering his hand to Jin, palm facing up. Jin’s eyes flickered down to Yusaku’s hand, and after watching it for a moment, he raised his own hand and took it. Jin’s fingers were cold as they wrapped around Yusaku’s hand, squeezing with a tight grip. This was always the fragile part, and could go different ways depending on when Jin’s last nightmare had been and what it’d been about. Yusaku gave him time. 

Jin seemed to ‘wake up’ a little, blinking a few times as his hand warmed against Yusaku’s. He tugged gently on Yusaku’s arm, like he was seeing if it would give. A small smile flickered across his lips. Tension seemed to fall off his shoulders. 

“Can I sit down here?” Yusaku asked, still in his soft voice. Jin nodded sharply, tugging on his hand again so he could get at his forearm. Yusaku sat down on the side of Jin’s bed, catching sight of Kusanagi slumping into the arm chair in the corner of the room. Jin rolled Yusaku’s sleeve up to his elbow. Jin’s cold fingers found the lightning scars on Yusaku’s forearm, sending a surprised jolt up to his shoulder. 

Jin murmured softly under his breath, fingers running up and down Yusaku’s arm, tracing the scars that mirrored the ones on Jin’s own arms. It helped him orient himself. During a previous visit, in a moment of near full coherence while leaning against Yusaku’s shoulder and holding onto his arm, Jin had muttered that the scars and Yusaku’s body warmth made him seem more real. Because, ‘the nightmares were never warm, just cold. And they never had the same scars.’ 

Kusanagi had suggested that because Jin hadn’t known Yusaku before the room, before the incident, he had never had nightmares about him during it. So even in moments when Jin slipped away, Yusaku’s presence reminded him that he wasn’t in the room anymore, that this room in the hospital and even Kusanagi himself wasn’t just a crooked dream that was trying to warp and torment him. 

Jin had shrugged one shoulder and mumbled something that wasn’t quite an affirmation. Yusaku suspected that Kusanagi might have been even more right than he thought. There was something about sharing scars, about being with someone who shared his scars, that made it feel both more real and more distant. 

Jin poked his finger into the center of Yusaku’s palm. “’saku.” 

“Hm?”

Jin poked his palm again, humming softly to himself. He tilted his head, his lips moving soundlessly. He didn’t answer beyond that. Yusaku hummed in response. He didn’t usually like people touching him, especially not his scars, but he didn’t mind it when Jin did it. It was calming, in a way. 

Maybe it reminded him that he wasn’t in that room anymore too.

“So, Yusaku,” Kusanagi said from his seat in the corner of the room, “how was school today?” Yusaku pressed his lip together and quickly looked away from him. Kusanagi snickered under his breath.

~

They shuffled around as time passed. Kusanagi had brought a tray of condiments and they made hot dogs. Jin was overjoyed that they got to eat together and just wouldn’t stop smiling. Kusanagi brought his laptop in with him and settled at the table to work on his newest freelance program. Yusaku sat back against the headboard of Jin’s bed, splitting his attention between working on his own freelance program and his homework. Jin had settled against his shoulder and flipped between watching him work and dozing. 

As Yusaku worked, mechanically spitting out codes and formulas, his mind wandered. He thought about Ai, still locked in the hot dog van, and the possibility of bringing him in to meet Jin. 

It might be good for Jin to interact with more people, but… Ai was… a lot, and an AI on top of that. Yusaku had no idea how Jin would react to him, if Ai would upset him in one way or another. Ultimately though, it would be Kusanagi’s call, if Yusaku ever brought the idea up to him. 

His mind drifted from Ai to the Knights of Hanoi, specifically to his duel with Revolver. That had been his most difficult duel in a long time, both literally and emotionally. Afterwards he’d felt so drained, and only barely managed to make it home and to bed before he crashed headfirst into a two-hour nap. 

Revolver…. For some reason he had resonated with Yusaku, in a way he couldn’t quite name. In all likelihood, it had something to do with what made him see Revolver flying on his dragon that night. 

That link was… worrying. If it was the same thing that connected him to both Ai and Revolver, then what was it? And why? It seemed like every time he learned something new about his past and the incident, more and more questions and uncertainties sprouted from it. 

Yusaku sighed through his nose, feeling the signs of an oncoming headache. He quickly saved his work and set his laptop down, leaning back and rubbing the ridge above his eyes. That didn’t seem to help all that much. It was coming, whether he wanted it to or not. 

Yusaku closed his eyes, letting his head rest against the headboard of Jin’s bed. Maybe if he just rode it out for a minute, it would go away. With his eyes shut, the darkness that surrounded him felt comforting, Jin’s warmth curled up against his side. 

The headache rose, feeling like prickling static, like pins and needles in his mind. It wasn’t pleasant, so he couldn’t quite help the grimace he felt forming on his lips. It felt like a stronger, a much, much stronger version of the feeling that made him see Revolver and feel Ai. 

Jin shifted next to him, letting out a small groan. He curled in on himself and pressed his face against Yusaku’s shoulder. A high-pitched whine slipped out of him as his fingernails started digging into Yusaku’s jacket. 

His headache rose even higher, the uncomfortable prickling feeling growing more and more until something like a lightning bolt shot though him. 

He was in the white room again, arching with electricity and pain and panic. 

A sharp yelp escaped him before he managed to clamp down on it and choke it off. 

Someone was still screaming though. Beside- beside him. Jin. 

Even as he doubled over, clutching his head as something split open, Yusaku reached out and grabbed onto Jin’s arm, holding on to him so tight, to anchor him, anchor them both. Jin was shaking, his fingers turned to claws as he tried to cling to Yusaku, or maybe push him away. Yusaku felt his fingernails bite into his own scalp, pulling at his hair. He felt like his head might split open and-.

As quickly as it had come on, the feeling left, leaving a hallow numbness in its wake. Yusaku forced himself to breathe, his eyes wide and staring at the sheets on Jin’s bed. Dark sheets, dark blankets. Not white. Yusaku blinked hard, moving the hand clutching his head down to rub at his eyes. 

“Jin… Yusaku…?” a soft, scared voice said from off to the side. Yusaku turned his head just enough to see his legs. Kusanagi had stood up so suddenly that his chair had toppled over. He stood a short distance away, hovering like he was afraid to touch. Touching sometimes made Jin’s attacks worse. 

Jin- Jin was shaking, clinging to Yusaku’s arm like it was the only thing keeping him sane. He was looking out at the room, his eyes wide and scared. Yusaku sat up slowly, loosening his grip on Jin’s forearm. Jin only dug his fingernails deeper into Yusaku. 

“Are you…,” Kusanagi started in that soft voice he used to talk to Jin during his panic attacks, “Are you alright…? Do I need to get the doctor?” He hovered, slowly stepping closer. He looked more worried than Yusaku had ever seen him. Of course he did. 

Yusaku shook his head slightly. He opened his mouth to answer when-

An unfamiliar voice spoke from somewhere in the room, “Ow- the hell was that?” 

Yusaku’s eyes snapped up, seeing something that looked impossible. There was a silhouette of a person, a three-dimensional form made of flickering red light, kneeling in the middle of the room, holding his head. Actually, there were four, four silhouetted figures, each one a different color. 

A split second after the first one spoke, another voice shrieked, “Yo- what the FUCK?!” and the green silhouette lurched backwards. A sharp gasp and a soft ‘oh’ came from voices three and four respectively. 

There was a moment of scrabbling, a flurry of quick movement from the red and green forms. The blue one’s hands flew up to her face as she backed up. The orange one slowly rose to his feet from a part-way doubled over seated position. 

Jin whimpered at his side, shaking so hard he was moving Yusaku’s arm. “It’s okay- It’s okay…. I see them too,” Yusaku breathed. Kusanagi went stone still at his side. 

Yusaku, not taking his eyes off the forms in front of them, slowly stood up, standing beside Jin’s bed. Jin followed him the short distance, chasing after his anchor. He hid his face in Yusaku’s hip, his fingers still shaking badly as they wrapped around his waist and dug into his shirt. Yusaku draped his arm around Jin’s shoulders, which seemed to help a bit. 

“What the fuck-? What the fuck-?” the green one kept chanting, sitting on the floor now, his back pressed against something, his hands clutching either side of his head. 

The red one balled his fists, head swiveling while he tried to look at all of them. “G-ghosts-?!!” the red one wheezed, raising his hands in what looked like a martial arts stance. There was a moment of silence that passed, tense silence that felt like it might ignite. 

Jin whimpered against his hip, holding on to him even tighter. Yusaku blinked.

He couldn’t just do nothing, not when Jin was like this, terrified and afraid. He forced himself to breathe, take a deep breath and calm down. He had to think. What was this-? It felt like- it felt a little bit like-… like when he’d sensed stuff from Link Vrains. Was this…? It felt like that. 

“I’m not crazy-…,” the green one muttered, shaking his head. “No- no I don’t see anything!”

“You?!” the red one responded, his head snapping towards him. “I’m the one going crazy! Oh hell-, No! I’m actually talking to the hallucinations…!”

“Hold on-,” the blue one interjected, “No, you’re all the hallucinations….” She pointed a finger in the vague direction of the red and green forms, but quickly put it down when they looked at her. 

“It may be possible,” the orange one said in a very measured calmness, “that actually none of us are hallucinations.” 

Yusaku tightened his grip on Jin’s shoulder. At least there was one other person managing to not visibly freak out. He took a steadying breath before speaking. 

“I don’t think any of us are hallucinating…. I think we’re seeing things inside the network.” He spoke calmly, hoping that the steadiness in his voice would help Jin and Kusanagi calm down, and the others too. Kusanagi straightened up like he’d been shocked, his eyes going wide, then relaxed immensely. He looked relieved. This wasn’t Yusaku having a mental break-… so that was the worst-case scenario averted. Yusaku didn’t want to saddle the poor man with anything else.

“The- what?” the red one asked, his fists lowering slightly. 

“The network, like-,” the green one waved his hand around helplessly.

“Like the internet and stuff,” the blue one said, though it sounded a bit like a question.

“Seeing things inside network…,” the orange one murmured to himself, “That’s an interesting theory. What makes you think that?”

They were all looking at him now, eyeless faces turned towards him. But Yusaku could feel the weight of their gazes on him. He squeezed Jin’s shoulder lightly and continued. “There have been a few times where I’ve been able to… sense things inside Link Vrains. I don’t know how, and I can’t really explain it. But this,” he gestured towards all of them, “this feels a lot like that.” 

They all seemed to consider that in their own ways. Then the blue one nodded sharply. “Okay… okay! Let’s go with that… for now, at least.” 

“Really?” the green one huffed exasperatedly.

“Well, it’s the only explanation we have right now,” the blue one murmured, shifting her weight, the pigtails of her silhouette starting to sway as she wrung her hands. “I don’t know about you, but I’d rather go with that, as crazy as it seems, instead of think I’m finally losing my mind….”

“Yeah that- I’m good with that.” The red one sat down hard, the red coloring slowly spreading away from his form to show a little section of what he was sitting one, a bed maybe. “Ghosts don’t come out in the daytime…,” he muttered to himself, dragging a hand through his hair, making some of it stand up.

“What even is happening?” the green one asked, slowly unraveling from his tense, curled up position. He turned his head, looking around at all of them. The mop of hair on his head stuck out on the side like he’d slept on it funny. “Who are all you people? Why the hell are we- why are we seeing each other through the network or whatever this is?”

“What- like I’d know?!” the red one threw his hands up. 

Jin’s fingers tightened around his waist, drawing Yusaku’s attention. “Loud-,” Jin breathed quietly, shivering slightly. “Too m-.” His lips twitched as they pressed together, torn between trying to say more and trying to manage the sensory input. Yusaku looked down at him, gently took Jin’s hand in his own, squeezing it to give him something to focus on. Jin squeezed back. 

“Shh,” Yusaku hissed through his teeth. The others looked at him. Yusaku gestured with his head down to Jin. “You’re upsetting him.” 

The red one seemed to pause, seemed to look down at Jin, then back up at Yusaku. After a moment he spoke in a much softer voice, “Is he okay?”

“He’ll be fine,” Yusaku assured him, “Just- loud talking sometimes-….” The red figure seemed to nod in understanding, readjusting his sitting position so he had his arms on his knees. 

“Are you two together?” the green figure asked, also in a soft voice. “Like, right now?” Yusaku nodded. “So- you both can see all of us- right?” Yusaku nodded again.

“Maybe there’s… some connection…?” the blue figure murmured, twisting one of her pigtails around her fingers. “I mean- like something that… let us all ‘see into the network’…?”

“A connection…? There’s a thought…,” the orange figure hummed, his head tilting to the side. He sounded far less freaked out than the rest of them, though he was probably putting up a front, just like Yusaku was. 

Yusaku pursed his lips, thinking. Why was he able to sense things in the network? How were they? What did they have in common, what connected them-?

Jin was seeing them too.

There were six of them.

“Oh.” 

“What?” the blue figure asked, turning towards him again. “Do you have another idea?” 

Yes he did. Yusaku wasn’t sure if he liked it. No-, he decided he really didn’t like it. 

Some part of him was sure though. Some part of him knew he was right.

He chewed the inside of his lip for a moment, glancing at Kusanagi. He was still standing close, though he’d taken a step back, letting Yusaku manage the situation. He looked a little confused, but was following as much as he could. Yusaku felt some reassurance from him being there. That was right, he had his shield at his side, and someone to protect right next to him. 

Yusaku looked up at the forms again. “Ten years ago…,” he started. 

He didn’t need to finish. Their reactions told him enough. They all realized what he meant.

The green figure jumped, flinching like he’d been jabbed. The blue figure wrapped her arms around herself. The red figure tensed up, his shoulders hunching forward like he was expecting a fight. Even the orange figure shifted, his shoulders squaring and a soft ‘oh’ escaping him. 

Yusaku winced. He felt bad. He was probably digging up memories that none of them ever wanted to touch again. But… if that was the connection, as it seemed to be… they deserved to know. 

Red shook his head. “No- no that- that can’t-….”

“There were six children involved in the lost incident,” Orange confirmed with a tilt of his head, “and six of us here.”

“Oh gods-,” Blue choked, “that means… all of us were….” Green just ran his hand through his hair on repeat, mumbling something too soft to hear.

Yusaku bit his lip trying to think of what he should say. How was he supposed to calm them down? He could barely manage to calm Jin down when he started getting upset. What was he supposed to do? What could he say? He looked at Kusanagi helplessly. He had no idea what to say to him either. How was he supposed to ask for help? His expression must have said enough. 

“Take deep breaths,” Kusanagi told him, his voice gentle. He moved his hand up and down over his stomach to visualize it. Yusaku closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in deeply, then letting it out. Breath in… and out. Breath in… and out. “That’s it. Now tell them to.” 

Yusaku looked up at the others. “We need to stay calm. Panicking won’t help. Take a deep breath.” 

Yusaku felt Jin take the breath at his side, then move to sit up a little straighter on his own. He looked out at the other four. 

“It does help a little,” Blue said softly, “Breathe deep… and calm down.”

Red visibly inhaled, then slumped over as he let out his breath, like he was deflating. “Right. Right…. Self-control and discipline….” He ran a hand through his hair, glancing up at them. “So what now-? We just… hallucinate or ‘sense Link Brains’ or whatever- forever?”

“Link Vrains,” Green mumbled, only for Red to shoot him what was probably a glare. 

“Maybe if we can figure out how it turned on…,” Yusaku muttered, mostly to himself, “A shift in the network or a data storm surge….”

“Hm,” Orange mused, “Interesting theory….”

Green’s head snapped towards him. “Could you offer an idea instead of going ‘HM Interesting’? Like- just once.” He threw his hands in the air helplessly. 

Orange hummed shortly at him, then turned and looked like he was writing something down on a table or a desk. Yusaku tilted his head, watching him curiously. Red leaned forward like he was trying to see, “The fuck are you doing?”

“Writing a note,” Orange replied shortly. When he was done, a long moment later, he pushed the note away from himself, looking up at Green… but not quite. He seemed to be looking at something occupying the space just to the side, an invisible something-.

“Is someone else with you?” Yusaku asked.

Orange nodded slightly, then turned back to Yusaku. “There is.” He cocked his head to the side. “Is someone else with you? Besides dear Yellow, of course.”

Without hesitating, Yusaku nodded. “Yes.” 

“And they aren’t looking at you two like you’re nuts?!” Green gaped, throwing his hands out in front of him in a ‘can you believe this’ gesture. 

“He’s seen me sense things in Link Vrains before.” Yusaku glanced over at Kusanagi, who’s eyebrows had raised when he realized they were talking about him. 

“Hm. It is somewhat similar for me,” Orange supplied, glancing towards his person. “Though I have not been able to sense things withing Link Vrains before, he has seen it before. In all honesty, we should have at least suspected that I might be able to do so as well. That was an oversight.”

“Why is that?” Blue asked softly, tilting her head and stepping forward a small half-step. 

“Someone else can- can- has this ‘Link Sense’ thing?” Green asked, waving his hand in frustration. 

“Hm, I wonder,” Orange hummed, his head turning towards Yusaku. His gaze felt heavy. “If I may speak candidly… you are Playmaker, correct?”

Yusaku felt like something cold and sharp had shot straight through his heart. He felt his fingers tightening against Jin’s shoulders. The others turned to look at him too. Yusaku could feel the weight of their stares land on him. 

In this moment… he felt that he had to answer truthfully. He wanted them to trust him. No, he needed them to trust him. He had to tell the truth, clearly and plainly, while still protecting Kusanagi, Jin, and himself. 

“I am.” he admitted with a small nod. 

Green nearly choked. “You’re serious?! How- but- what-?” His hand went to his hair, grabbing a tuft and holding it back. 

“Play-…?” Red started, sounding very lost.

“Um- that’s someone from… Link Vrains right?” Blue asked, shifting her weight uncomfortably. “That… ‘hero’ people are talking a lot about?”

“Yeah!” Green gaped at them in disbelief. “He’s like- a duelist who beats the crap out of this hacker group, the Knights of Hanoi! And he just keeps trouncing them at every turn!”

“Well-,” Orange started with a jerk of his head.

Green ignored him. “And- and he’s you?!” He looked at Yusaku. “You- you’re…!” Jin grumbled against Yusaku’s hip, and Green closed his mouth with a snap. “Sorry….” Jin shook his head slightly, saying that it was okay, but the others might not have been able to see it. 

Yusaku looked across the room at Orange, feeling a deep sense of unease taking root in his stomach. “What made you think I was Playmaker?” He heard Kusanagi inhale a sharp breath. 

Orange tilted his head, humming. “It really wasn’t that hard to figure out. Playmaker admitted to having a very strong and… very personal connection to the Lost Incident and, appeared to show this… ‘Link Sense’ that you admitted to having before now.” He shrugged, like they were hopeless for needing him to explain it. 

Alarm bells were ringing in Yusaku’s head. One after another going off down the line as he tried to figure out-, “Where did you hear that?”

“Hm?”

“Where did you hear about my connection to the Lost Incident, or my Link Sense?” 

There was a moment of silence as Orange seemed to consider the question. His head tilted to the side. Yusaku got the inexplicable impression that he was actually looking at the mysterious person in his room. Orange dipped his head a little, letting out a small sigh. “Well, despite how… awkward it will probably make things between us, I am a Knight of Hanoi. I heard those things directly from Lord Revolver.” 

Yusaku felt like his heart might have stopped. “Revolver…?” he breathed. Revolver- was Revolver the person in the room with him? Suddenly this felt much more dangerous. Suddenly he wished Ai was here. “You’re- a Knight of Hanoi-…. Why-?” 

Orange made a disgruntled sound in his throat. “That’s a conversation that feels like it will take a while.” He waved his hand dismissively, looking at the other three. “However, I would like to extend the protection the Knights can offer, to all of you.” Yusaku felt like he was looking at him when he said that. He felt the hair at the back of his neck stand up. 

Red snorted through his nose. “Yeah- like we’d just agree to that after you admitted to being part of some famous hacker group.”

Green was nodding along. “Right. Right.”

Orange hummed, shrugging his shoulders. “You don’t need to decide right now, but you should be aware that we have received information that suggests SOL Technology has looking into the Lost Incident recently, since the data storm has suddenly reemerged.”

“What does that mean?” Blue asked, sounding a little panicked, “You think someone is going to come after us again?”

Orange shrugged, “Who’s to say? They may be looking for answers, or they may be looking for Playmaker’s identity. Whatever the case may be, the Knights of Hanoi offer protection from SOL Technology.” 

He turned his head towards Yusaku again. “And as for you, Playmaker…,” there was an undertone in his voice that Yusaku couldn’t quite name, “Lord Revolver wishes to arrange a meeting with you, outside of Link Vrains, away from the Ignis and the network, to… talk, to maybe sort things out peacefully.”

“Peacefully?” Yusaku almost scoffed. “The Knights of Hanoi are responsible for the Incident ten years ago!”

“The Knights are trying to correct the mistakes made ten years ago.”

“Do you really expect me to believe that? After what the Knights did to Blue Angel?”

Orange sighed softly, turning away to say, “Playmaker seems quite upset about Blue Angel, as I said. Lord Revolver, I-.” He cut himself off, his head tilting. “Lord Revolver wishes for me to remind you that he did honor your deal and give you the anti-virus, as promised.” Orange looked back at him again. “Think it over, at the very least. You have your grievances, and he is willing to listen.”

Yusaku bit the inside of his lip, as Orange turned towards the others. “And all of you as well. A chance to listen, that’s all we ask.”

The other three shifted uncomfortably, each one of them looking like they suddenly didn’t want to be there. “Fine-,” Red snapped, “Time to think, sure. But does anybody know how to turn this off-?” 

In a blink, they were all gone. Yusaku blinked, head whipping from side to side. They were all gone. Jin sat up a little, blinking in surprise. “Oh-,” he cooed, “They left.”

Kusanagi stepped forward. “Yusaku… are- are you okay?”

Yusaku pressed one hand against his head, nodding slightly. “Yeah…. No. No, I’m- we’re not okay.” He looked up at Kusanagi, feeling far more scared than he had in a long time. “One of the victims of the lost incident is working with Hanoi. He knows I’m Playmaker.”

Kusanagi went stone still. He forced himself to take a breath, the air rattling down his throat. “Yusaku, sit down. Sit- just sit.” He took the few steps to cross to the table and picked his chair up off the floor. He dragged it over to the bedside and sat down. “Okay- okay. Fill me in. What happened?”

Yusaku sat down on the edge of Jin’s bed and started talking. Surprisingly Jin chimed in every so often. He wasn’t usually this talkative this late into a visit. He was usually tired by now. Yusaku didn’t pay that much attention to it. There were more pressing matters right now. 

When he had finished telling Kusanagi what had happened, the older man took a deep breath and looked at Jin. “Jin- if- if any of those people come back, especially- no, any of them, if any of them come back, you can’t tell them anything about you or us, okay? Especially if Yusaku or I aren’t here. You can’t say your name, or our names, or tell them that you’re in a hospital, anything like that. Okay? Do you understand? This is important, just like your meds okay?”

Jin nodded seriously. “Okay.” 

Kusanagi’s shoulders sagged. He looked a lot more tired all of a sudden. “Okay….” He ran a hand through his hair. “This just got a whole lot more dangerous, didn’t it?”

“It was dangerous before.” Yusaku felt Jin starting to fidget with the cuffs of his uniform, tugging it up to get at Yusaku’s scars again. 

“Yeah, but before, Jin- Jin wasn’t in the line of fire….” Kusanagi sat back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling. “You shouldn’t go to that meeting…. I don’t trust them.”

“I don’t really trust them either.” Yusaku focused his eyes on the blanket underneath him. He already knew… he was going to go to that meeting. Maybe not on those terms…, but he felt like he had to meet Revolver again. That wasn’t something he could, or wanted to avoid. Maybe… maybe Revolver could give him some answers.

**Author's Note:**

> I've... been sitting on this one for a while.... >w>c I have a plot outlined (to a point) but we'll see where it goes from there! 
> 
> I'm not sure where this'll end up but Network (Ai/Yusaku/Ryoken) is probably endgame, just cause <3
> 
> AH!! I just have so many ideas and not enough time/energy to write them all!


End file.
